Overview

Vinh Moc is a tunnel complex in Quảng Trị, Vietnam. During the Vietnam War it was strategically located on the border of North Vietnam and South Vietnam. The tunnels were built to shelter people from the intense bombing of Son Trung and Son Ha communes in Vinh Linh county of Quảng Trị Province in the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone. The American forces believed the villagers of Vinh Moc were supplying food and armaments to the North Vietnamese garrison on the island of Con Co which was in turn hindering the American bombers on their way to bomb Hanoi. The idea was to force the villagers of Vinh Moc to leave the area but as is typical in Vietnam there was nowhere else to go. The villagers initially dug the tunnels to move their village 10 meters underground but the American forces designed bombs that burrowed down 10 meters. Eventually against these odds, the villagers moved the village to a depth of 30 meters. It was constructed in several stages beginning in 1966 and used until early 1972. The complex grew to include wells, kitchens, rooms for each family and spaces for healthcare. Around 60 families lived in the tunnels; as many as 17 children were born inside the tunnels.

 

The Ben Hai River (Vietnamese: Sông Bến Hải) is a river in central Vietnam which became an important landmark in the partition of the country into a northern and a southern zone along the 17th parallel by the Geneva Accords of 1954. The demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two parts extended about 5 kilometers (3.1 mi) from either side of the river.

 

The Bến Hải River has a total length of about 100 kilometers; its source is located in the Annamite Mountains along the border with Laos and it flows into the South China Sea at Cua Tung (Tung River mouth). In the mountains, the river is named "Rao Thanh". It flows from west to east just south of the 17th parallel and close to the northern border of Quảng Trị Province, in which it is located. At its widest point, the river is about 200 meters wide.

 

At the time of the partition, the principal north-south road (Highway 1) crossed the Bến Hải River over Hien Luong Bridge (also known as the "Peace Bridge"), a beam bridge built from steel by the French in 1950. After the partition, the northern portion of the bridge was painted red and the southern portion yellow. The bridge was damaged by American bombardment during the Vietnam War in 1967. After the Paris Peace Accords, a modern bridge was built next to the old bridge.

 

The tour start from Phong Nha and finish at Hue City

Itinerary

Phong Nha DMZ tour and Vinh Moc Tunnel full day details itinerary:

Our tour guide and driver with private car will meet you at your hotel in Phong Nha, drive to Vinh Moc Tunnel approximately 2.5 hours away. Your guide will recommend stops along the way to see a small church showing the signs of mortar attack in the area and visit former US Bases. You will go through the DMZ, where some of the bloodiest battles were fought during the Vietnam/American War, you will walk cross the Ben Hai River on Hien Luong Bridge that used to demarcate the division between North and South Vietnam (1954-1975).

You will visit the museums containing photographs and memorials of the war before taking a fascinating tour of the Vinh Moc Tunnels. Your guide will take you into the tunnels and explore the complex; you will walk past huge bomb craters, amazing fighting trench and even venture into the tunnels and explore the tiny living rooms, food and weapon storage and school that villagers would have survived on.
After the tunnels, you will be transported to Cua Tung beach; you will have some time to swim and having picnic lunch by the beach. Mid afternoon driving all the way back to Phong Nha.

Option:  After the tour we will drop you off in Hue City 

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Price

Price per person: 85 USD/ pax

Tour included:
English speaking tour guide
Transportation
Meal: lunch at local restaurant or picnic lunch
All entrance fees as mentioned in itinerary